Finished 1-1.

Parselle, who scored our goal, harsh second yellow on 83 minutes they levelled a few minutes later.
Does that mean our captain will miss Northampton game?

just couldn't get the second goal which would of made it game over. Played really well first half with them shading the second. Felt for Parselle who has been Mr consistent all season. Referee was shocking for both sides. The unbeaten run continues.

Surprised Parselle will only miss the 1 game, it is his second red card this season I believe.

Well after a bit of a miracle in terms of not hitting traffic on the M25 and leaving Portsmouth at 1.15, we made it to the game just as the whistle blew. First thoughts on Dartford is that I genuinely thought the ground was as good as any at our level and possibly the one above. Covered all the way around, lovely little set up with the toilets and amenities all within a stones throw of wherever you were stood at opposite ends of the ground and generally a lovely facility, the bar and it's backroom areas were far beyond what you tend to find at this level and really painted the picture of a club that have been rightly ambitious for a good few years now. That being said, that is where the compliments end. 

I thought as a football team Dartford were incredibly average. For the first 45 minutes it was all Chippenham, with Karnell making his usual darting runs down the left side, the first chance of memory came from a cut inside and unfortunately all bar the delivery was perfect as his cross/shot evaded Jarvis and fell into the hands of the goalkeeper. 

Minutes later it looked as if Chippenham were going 1-0 up, Jarvis' shot was turned around the post by the Dartford number one and the resulting corner was fizzed in to Curtis McDonald's left foot, he caught the ball as sweet as any striker but miraculously hit the foot of the only Dartford player that hadn't been caught out by the routine and he was able to block and clear without knowing too much about it. 

However, minutes later Chippenham were in front, the lively Zebroski down the right hand side was fouled in once again another cynical manner, resulting in a free kick from about 35 yards out. Tom Whelan and Jay Foulston stood over the ball with the mismatch of Haines and their full back at the back post evident to all travelling fans and of course Tom Whelan who delivered the ball into the area for Haines to attack. His header was won, and the ball landed at the left foot of Chippenham Town "Golden Boot" contender, Kieran Parselle, who's left foot volley (cleverly dummied by Jarvis three yards out) found it's way into the back of the Dartford net. 

The second half was a slightly more even affair but for the first 20 minutes or so you could really only see one winner, some good changes from the gaffer saw Elias, Pratty and Richards come into the frame, great to see Will getting minutes back under his belt again, and it proved to be a very necessary change when the referee deemed it fit to penalise Kieran Parselle's visibly and audibly "Ball winning challenge" as dangerous play and gave him his marching orders for a second bookable offence. 

The rest as they say, is history. Buoyed by the man advantage Dartford went about trying to break Chippenham down and we proved once again why we aren't sitting in the top three by conceding an 87th minute equaliser to a bit of good fortune from the Dartford centre half. He had been chucked up there to make the impact aerially and little did we know, he was half decent with his right foot as well. A ball fed in from the left, quick touch and a shot to the far corner. Will Puddy (who hadn't had a shot to make all afternoon) was confident of his angles and looked as perplexed as the next when inside a windy Princes Park, the ball found the far corner and gave a rather fortunate Dartford side, their point they pushed so hard for. Last few minutes were all Dartford, but we hung on for a point on the road. 

Now a quick note about the referee. Mark Collier was ever so careful in his post match interview to avoid speaking out his true feelings regarding the performance of the officials and rightly so, he is the manager of the Football club, I however, am not. I am a fan like so many others up and down the country, exasperated with the sub standard officiating at this level of football. This referee was a complete shambles. From allowing very poor decisions to go unpunished, to making crucial game affecting mistakes, this guy had it all. And by all means you could call this bitter or sour grapes, but I don't just mean for us. Tom Whelan should well have been sent off for a poor challenge by the dugout's that on another day sparks WW3 on the sidelines, a poor challenge that all the signs of a straight red card, until the referee shocked everyone by producing the yellow. From that moment on, he was always trying to make amends, every decision, every 50/50 and the eventual punishment, falling very unfairly at the feet of the Captain Kieran Parselle. Like he has done countless times this season, Kieran went into the challenge clean, played the ball (something the referee would later admit) and not only was a free kick given, but Kieran was dismissed for a challenge that should have been receiving applause for a totally different reason. Now the reason why this is such a big issue. I spoke to Kieran afterwards, and frequently chat with him at matches regarding all things CTFC, he is a lovely lad on and off the pitch and to have playing time jeopardised this season by not one but two poor decisions from referee's is quite frankly unfair. First the incident at Dorking where he made a genuine attempt at the ball and was deemed to have maliciously fouled the striker resulting in the "Double Punishment Law" being ignored with a penalty and a red card dished out. At the time we were 0-0 and resulting in the game finishing 1-0 to Dorking as they caught us light at the back on the counter and now this week, an incorrect decision resulting in a second yellow (meaning we cannot even appeal the decision) at 1-0 and we go on to draw 1-1. 

Now arguably you could say these decisions level out over a course of the season, and god only hopes they will but this is just two examples of referees affecting the game pertaining to one player. Braintree at home, blatant penalty not given for a clear foul on Jarvis in the dying minutes now should we convert that penalty (and Hopper was on the pitch) that makes 5 points that Chippenham would have had on top of the total this season, and for a little bonus, can anyone tell me how many points Chippenham are currently outside the playoff spots? Yes that's right... 5 points. 

So to our amazing Board, Manager, Team and Fans that made the trip to Dartford I say "Well done, and that's now 10 unbeaten heading back to 4 games at Fortress Hardenhuish" and to the referees of the National League South I say please, stop trying to make games all about you, stop trying to be a focal point of discussions when it should be the football, and for the love of god, if you are going to hold your hands up to mistakes made constantly on the football pitch... maybe take a look at whether these incidents require a potential change in Saturday afternoon hobby.